Monday, October 20, 2014

Florinef and Addison's Disease

A woman wrote in saying that she having trouble with her Florinef medication. She complained of side effects -- gaining weight, feeling bloated, puffy in the face, hands shaking, chest beating hard, sweating, thirsty, low sodium levels, potassium high, craves salt. She says that Florinef is salt tablets and thinks is is causing her symptoms. She also states that she is starting menopause.

I think several things are happening here. First look at my post on Learning to Use My Medicine

Fludrocortisone (or Fludrocort or Floroinef- brand name) is NOT a salt pill. It is a synthetic adrenal hormone. It is used to replace one of the major adrenal hormones, aldosterone. Most people with Addison's Disease need to take Fludrocort (1 pill .1mg) daily. Aldosterone controls mineral balances in our bodies, mainly the salt and potassium balance. Aldosterone therefore regulates your blood pressure and water retention levels in your body. It also regulates nerve impulses. Most people have to take potassium pills when they take Fludrocort since Fludrocort causes the body to retain salt and dump potassium.

Yes, some of the symptoms are the same. That is because any mineral imbalance causes problems. For instance you can have too much salt or too much potassium in your blood and the body tries to re-balance by causing you to drink more water or eliminate water. You do not need to guess if you are too high or low in fludrocort. Just check your blood pressure with a monitor (available at most drug stores). If your blood pressure is high your fludrocort is too high. If your blood pressure is too low your fludrocort is too low. Fludrocort levels are directly related to blood pressure. There are also blood tests that will directly measure the level of fludrocort in your blood. Most people who have Addison's disease must take fludrocort because our bodies do not produce aldosterone which regulates mineral balance. Therefore most people take .1 mg (one pill) each morning. This dose usually stays constant.

2 comments:

Cherry, as I said in a common on another of your post, my blood pressure is spiking very high once a week. My sodium and potassium are always normal. I take 0.5 mg of florineff daily and have never been told to take potassium. I've been taking that side for 2 years now. Do you think it could suddenly be too much and the cause of the episodes of high blood pressure?

see my answer on the Hydrocortisone and Adrenal Disease and on Low Adrenal and low blood pressureOverdose is consistent. It will keep rising. You blood pressure will keep rising. It will not come down until you cut your dose of florineff.

Disclaimer

Please remember that you must consult a doctor for medical advice. All I can do is share my experiences as a person who had Addison's Disease for 15 years. My adrenal failure was the result of excessive stress to my adrenal glands. When I was able to discover and eliminate this stress, my adrenal glands healed. Now, I am no longer on any medication. My adrenal problems were not the result of damage to my adrenal glands, or the lack of functioning of some other gland. I simply reached a point of adrenal exhaustion.

Please Note

Any level where a person's production of adrenal hormones is lower than normal, can be called Low Adrenal Function, Adrenal Exhaustion, Adrenal Fatigue, or Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome (AFS). The term "Addison's Disease" is reserved for the point where at least 90% of your adrenal cortex (the outer part of your adrenal glands which produces cortisone) is not producing enough cortisone for your body to function well. The glands may be destroyed or simply fatigued. At this point replacement adrenal hormone medication is prescribed. If excessive stress has caused you to have symptoms of low adrenal function, reducing stress might help you avoid future adrenal failure (Addison's disease). Symptoms, coping, and stress reduction would be similar for any level of low adrenal function.

About Me

I am a wife, mother of four, grandmother, member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon), writer of nine blogs, published author, editor, teacher, children's tutor, creative writing mentor, and business manager. Links to my blogs are in my complete profile.